Re: thanks for fibre input-Jennifer

From: Christine M. Smith (smithy@maine.rr.com)
Thu Aug 26 08:06:25 1999


Hi Jennifer:At Wed, 25 Aug 1999, Jennifer Lee wrote: >
>Dear Sherry, Sharonda, Rachel, Sue Ann, Ginny and Christine,
>Thank you all for your prompt and very helpful replies to my message.
>You don't know how much of a relief it is to me to discover that I'm not
>alone in both my suffering and my intolerance to fibre. I don't know
>how many times I've been given a strange look when people ask me what's
>wrong and I reply, "it must have been the spinach in the lasagna," as I
>keel over in pain at the office. All my life, I felt I must have been
>the only person on earth with this problem.
>
>For some reason, previous doctors I have consulted all responded with a
>quizzical look when I told them about my reaction to certain fruits and
>vegetables. When I used to live in Canada, I found many of the doctors
>I consulted there to be completely unsympathetic to my

woes. They put >me through a barrage of tests, and when those tests turned out "normal,"
>they suggested those problems may have been imagined. This is the same
>medical system which refused to give me painkillers for my severe
>cramping each time I'm admitted to the hospital emergency room. (The
>nurses told me they could not give me any narcotics because, who knows,
>I could be a drug addict walking in off the street, and this, despite my
>horribly distended abdomen, right below a scar that practically splits
>my body in two.) Only after an x-ray reveals a clump of matter in my
>intestine do they reluctantly inject me with Demerol.
>
>A year ago, I went to see a nutritionist in Hong Kong, where I now live.
>I told her about my problem, and she just gave me a blank stare. I
>don't think she had come across anyone in her career who was unable to
>eat fruits and vegetables. At the end of my explanation, she simply
>said, "well, don't eat fruits and vegetables." I felt like crying then,
>because that was not what I wanted to hear. I wanted her to tell me
>WHAT kind of fruits and vegetables were allowed, and in what
>quantities.. not to avoid them all together. And when I asked her what
>I should eat to supplement my diet, since I was avoiding an essential
>food group, she said, "just eat more from the other groups."
>And I had waited four months for that appointment.
>
>So, you can imagine how comforted I felt when I read your responses.
>Here's a list of some of the fruits and veg I can and cannot eat -
>perhaps you may have the same reaction to them.
>
>What I can eat: small portions of very well-cooked broccoli florests,
>asparagus tips, tomatoes, small portions of very well-cooked potatoes,
>canned beets, canned peaches, small amounts of cooked pumpkin/squash,
>watermelon, small portions of canteloupe, papaya, orange juice, salads,
>raw lettuce, raw spinach, small amounts of grapes (I find when I eat
>them with the skin on, I have problems,)and cooked fruits, except
>pineapple.
>
>What I cannot tolerate: ALL RAW vegetables, oranges - unless ALL the
>pith has been removed, most raw fruit, especially unripe bananas, COOKED
>spinach - even minute amounts of it, cooked cabbage, cold french fries,
>(but curiously, NOT hot french fries,)large portions of pop corn and
>cooked corn, large portions of nuts....
>
>Like many of you, there are some things things I can tolerate and some I
>cannot. And trying to figure out what's good and what's not has been a
>most painful exercise. (I do not want to avoid fruits and vegetables
>all together because in Hong Kong, I do not have access to appropriate
>supplements as substitutes.)
>
>Anyway, sorry for the long ramble. I just wanted to be able to talk
>about this to people whom I know would understand. There is no one else
>I know who remotely comprehends just I what go through. Thank you all
>for your much-needed support!
>
>Jennifer

Hi Jennifer: I made a list of the things you can and can not tolerate and it appears to me that you have enough of a variety on the "OK" list that there is no reason to worry. You have citrus fruits (tomatoes and oj) orange veggies (squash, canteloupe, papaya), green veggies (lettuce and spinach, broccoli and asparagus)plus others. It's interesting that you can tolerate melon as this is very hard on the gut. I'm not surprised about pop corn or cooked corn. The intolerance to bananas and cooked spinach is interesting. I don't know the reason for that but I do know that I have problems with canker sores and mouth inflammation and these two foods cause me great pain. I don't know what it is about bananas but if my mouth is sore I just about go through the ceiling eating a banana. Spinach has a lot of oxalic acid in it. Perhaps when it is cooked it is more of an irritant, I don't know. Spinach (and cooked more than raw, although raw is not too good either) is another thing that burns my mouth terribly if I have soreness. I don't know why medical personnel would be so surprised by the need for a low fiber diet-it is not that unusual. (but I don't doubt your interpretation because I have gotten some might weird looks myself about various things I have observed and reported) People with an active case of diverticulitis need a low fiber diet (high fiber in the uninflammed state!) I know someone on a low fiber diet for this reason and she was told to eat asparagus as one of her veggies. I questioned that as I thought it was kind of fibrous and she said the dietician told her it was easy to digest. And she could never eat popcorn or corn. Well, hope this helps. I'm not a dietician but your diet does look like it has enough variety as far as fruits and veggies go.

Chris


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